The Art of Preaching – Faris D. Whitesell
If art means to look at life the same way the poets, musicians, dramatists, and painters do, then preaching is an art. If science means a relentless search for facts which are then dissected, weighed, analyzed, and classified, preaching is not a science.
The artist’s approach is more essential in preaching than the scientific approach, though both have their place. The artist’s use of the imagination and his effort to find the good, the beautiful, the true, and the eternal compare favorably with a preacher’s responsibility. Preaching searches for the eternal values in the Scriptures in order to relate them helpfully to life.
The art of preaching has developed through the Christian centuries from the simple running commentary, or homily, to the many elaborate and varied sermon forms of today. We can observe this by mentioning some of the great preachers and indicating their influence on preaching trends.
The apostolic and post-apostolic Christian preachers hesitated to use the devices of heathen rhetoric and oratory lest the Word of God be nullified. They sought to keep preaching simple and Scriptural in order that the faith of believers might stand in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men.
But in the second Christian century the gospel began to reach more people in the upper classes. Some of the Greek and Roman teachers of rhetoric were converted and came into the church. They could neither forget nor ignore the grammatical and public speaking principles they had used before conversion. It was but natural that they should apply the principles of rhetoric and oratory to Christian preaching.
Justin Martyr (c. 100–165) tried out the various systems of heathen philosophy of his day in vain until he finally found peace in Christianity. He became a strong apologist for the faith. While not an ordained presbyter, he was a preacher and traveling advocate of the Christian faith.
Tertullian (c. 150–220) received a good classical education and became a lawyer. Converted when about forty years of age, he became a Christian orator and writer of first rank.
Origen (c. 185–254) was born of Christian parents and trained in Christian learning. He turned to the ministry of the Word and became one of the greatest exegetes, scholars, and expositors of all time. A voluminous writer, he was a careful scholar who tried to make the sacred text the real basis of preaching. However, he did considerable mischief by advocating the allegorical method of interpretation.
The preaching art remained rather static until the fourth century when John Chrysostom (347–407) of Antioch and Augustine (354–430) of Hippo appeared. Chrysostom, called “the Golden Mouth,” was a notable preacher and orator. He brought the power of learning, eloquence, and imagination to bear upon the preaching task. He preached from the Bible directly to the needs of his listeners. His messages centered on themes but still adhered to the running commentary pattern. He preached through many of the books of the Bible, using the orator’s arts to command attention and drive his message home. Chrysostom made the first known attempt to write a book on preaching. It was entitled On the Priesthood, but it deals more with the preacher’s character and pastoral work than with the art of preaching.
Augustine was one of the world’s greatest scholars, theologians, and preachers. He had been a teacher of rhetoric before his conversion, but he did not carry as much of his rhetorical skill over into his preaching as might be expected. He did not care so much for the graces of style as he did for depth of matter and power of effect. He sought to convince, persuade, instruct, and win his hearers. Like Chrysostom, he preached through much of the Bible in homily fashion. He also wrote a book, entitled On Christian Teaching, which contains his views on preaching. He taught that right character was essential, that there must be correct interpretation of the Scripture, and that a sane and skillful employment of accepted rhetorical principles are justified as far as these are available and serviceable.
After Chrysostom and Augustine, preaching fell upon bad times and never recovered until the thousand-year period of the Dark Ages had passed. Allegorical, fanciful, and superstitious interpretations came in like a flood and almost displaced the true preaching of the gospel of saving grace. Preachers preached more about the virgin, the saints, the holy days, and apocryphal miracles than about Christ and the Bible.
During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, Scholasticism became the fashion. Albert Magnus (c. 1193–1280), and Thomas Aquinas (1227–1274) were leading figures. Scholasticism meant the application of the logic of Aristotle to the interpretation of Scripture and the findings of theology. It majored on speculation, analysis, and reasoning. Preachers not only had a dozen or more main points, but dozens of subpoints and subpoints of subpoints. Though minute analysis was carried too far, sermons ever after were more orderly and logical than those of Chrysostom and Augustine.
Two preachers of the Scholastic period who had a more practical view of preaching were Dominic (1170–1221), and Francis of Assisi (1182–1226). Both of these men founded preaching orders which sought to take Christianity from the monasteries to the people. These preaching friars went out to find the people in the villages and fields and preach the Word of God to them.
Another pair of preachers of note were the Franciscans, Anthony of Padua (1195–1231), and Berthold of Regensburg (1220–1272). Both of these men preached with passion and fervor, giving the Word to the multitudes, though mingled with scholastic, mystical, and evangelical elements.
Among the Dominicans, three preachers developed the mystical emphasis still further. Master Eckhart (1260–1327), Henry of Suso (1295–1360), and John Tauler of Strasburg (1290–1361) were men of sincere lives, lofty ideals, and Christian dedication. They emphasized strict discipline, prayer, union with Christ, and the mystical interpretation of the Bible. John Tauler taught that salvation come not by works but by faith in Christ.
The ignorance and superstition of the Dark Ages gradually passed and the light of the Protestant Reformation came by stages. The revival of learning, the discovery of new lands, the advance of science, and new stirrings in political and social life helped to bring on the Reformation. But one of the most important factors was the work of the great humanist, Desiderius Erasmus (1468–1536), in editing and publishing the Greek New Testament. He also wrote a long and labored work on the theory of preaching entitled Gospel Preacher. But it is a summary of current practices rather than making any real advances.
Among the great preachers of the Reformation, the best known are Huldreich Zwingli (1464–1531), Martin Luther (1483–1546), and John Calvin (1509–1564).
Zwingli did his work in Switzerland. Erasmus’ edition of the Greek New Testament appeared in 1516 and became a mighty instrument in the hands of Zwingli. In January, 1519, he began a course of expository sermons through the Gospel of Matthew, an unheard of thing in his day. Multitudes attended his preaching. Not only did he preach through Matthew but also through the Acts, Galatians, and I and II Timothy. Preaching was the main thing with him. He had broken with almost all the major errors of Roman Catholicism. He preached without notes and did not write for publication. Therefore, few of his sermons remain.
Martin Luther moved the German nation Godward by preaching. He translated the Bible into the native tongue of the German people, and preached to them in the language they understood. His preaching was mostly the running commentary style, but was vigorous, direct, relevant to life, and loyal to the whole of Scripture. He never used much in the way of formal outlines, but was strong on explanation, argument, illustration, imagination, and application. His sermons are still read by multitudes.
John Calvin did his work in Geneva, Switzerland. He has been called “the Paul of the Reformation.” Thoroughly trained in law and theology, he was the intellectual superior of both Zwingli and Luther. He became one of the notable Bible expositors of all time, as well as one of the most profound and influential theologians. He adhered closely to the Scriptures, preaching in the running commentary style, but in simple, direct, and convincing language. He made less use of imagination and illustration than Luther. His style was heavy but clear and Scriptural rather than rhetorical.
The French court preachers of the seventeenth century developed new emphases in preaching. Well-known ones are Jacques B. Bossuet (1627–1704), Louis Bourdaloue (1632–1704), and Jean B. Massillon (1663–1742). They preached before King Louis XIV and his court. Majoring on style, elaborate description, and oratory, these men were outstanding scholars and preachers. However, obvious flattery, fawning condescension, and overdependence on the rhetorical arts tend to mar their contributions.
Jean Claude (1619–1687) was a French Protestant preacher who introduced the method of taking a subject from a text and discussing the subject on its own merits. His famous essay, “An Essay on the Composition of a Sermon,” had a wide and beneficial influence. Charles Simeon (1759–1836), the famous Cambridge expositor, translated it into English and republished it in the next century.
The Puritan movement in England and America brought into prominence a great many noble preachers. These men sought to return to the purity of Scriptural standards in preaching and church life.
Among the Puritans was Jeremy Taylor (1613–1677), a vivid, flowery, rhetorical preacher who spoke with imagination and eloquence. Some said, “He was an angel come from heaven,” and Coleridge ranks him with Shakespeare, Bacon, and Milton as one of the four great masters of the English language.
Two Puritans who broke with the old method of many divisions and subdivisions were John Tillotson (1630–1694) and Robert South (1633–1716). Tillotson tried rather to develop a plain and edifying style. South disdained the elaborate fancifulness and labored conceits of the preceding age, even criticizing the overwrought style of Jeremy Taylor. Though South’s thought was good and his style fresh, vigorous and moving, he lacked spirituality and tenderness.
Richard Baxter (1615–1691) is one of the most famous Puritans. His preaching and pastoral ministry transformed the town of Kidderminster during his sixteen years there. His books, The Saints’ Everlasting Rest and The Reformed Pastor, have blessed all succeeding generations. He preached with deep dedication and earnestness “as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men.”
John Bunyan (1628–1688), the immortal dreamer and author of Pilgrim’s Progress was an eminent preacher of the grace of God, whose images and parables appealed to the common people, but whose written sermons do not measure up to his other writings.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714), a nonconformist Welshman, was pastor of a Presbyterian congregation in Chester, England, for twenty-five years. He became famous as a devotional and expository preacher, and his commentary on the Bible has enriched and inspired preachers ever since.
Two of the most celebrated preachers of Christian history were responsible for the Evangelical Awakening in England during the eighteenth century. They were John Wesley (1703–1791) and George Whitefield (1714–1770), both of whom stand in the vanguard of evangelistic preachers.
John Wesley made an enviable record as an evangelist, preacher, scholar, writer, administrator, and man of God. As an itinerant evangelist traveling up and down England for nearly sixty years, he had no equal in number of sermons preached and influence exercised. He could preach both to the head and the heart. His sermons were intended to convert sinners, to bring the Christians into the experience of the pure love of God, and to instruct all hearers. He hesitated to preach outside the dedicated church buildings until the Anglican authorities closed the churches against him. Then he followed the example of George Whitefield and took to the open air where he gathered his largest audiences and did his most lasting work.
Wesley’s preaching was organized, logical, Scriptural, and didactic. Though an outstanding Oxford scholar, he spoke in the language of the people, simply, directly, earnestly, doctrinally, persuasively, and extemporaneously.
George Whitefield, a fellow-member of the Oxford “Holy Club” with John and Charles Wesley, did not measure up to Wesley in scholarship, organizing ability, or literary productions, but for pulpit eloquence and popularity as a preacher he surpassed Wesley. Endowed with a marvelous preaching voice, he has been called “the Demosthenes of the pulpit.” He preached with boldness, directness, eloquence, pathos, deep feeling, and perfect gestures. With vivid imagination and sonorous voice he charmed the multitudes. He loved to preach and lived to preach the new birth. Much of his evangelizing was done in America, where he died at the age of fifty-six after crossing the Atlantic thirteen times. He literally preached himself to death to win souls.
Contemporary with Wesley and Whitefield and equally zealous to win the lost was Jonathan Edwards (1703–1758), who labored on the American side of the Atlantic. A strong Calvinist and a key figure in the Great Awakening in the colonies, Jonathan Edwards was a scholar and preacher of first rank. He held evangelical convictions and unbending views of Christian morality. His famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” is typical of his sermonizing but does not represent his major preaching emphasis. A careful analysis of his written sermons shows that he preached much more on the love of God than on his wrath. His sermons were long, heavy, and contained many divisions.
Popular preaching in the nineteenth century is represented by Henry Ward Beecher (1813–1887) and Phillips Brooks (1834–1893) in America and Joseph Parker (1830–1902) in England.
Beecher, one of the most brilliant and influential preachers of his century, was eloquent, imaginative, popular, and always preached out of the overflow. His sermons were not well-organized or profound, but were kindling, suggestive, and moving. Perhaps his greatest contribution to preaching was in establishing the Lyman Beecher Lectures on Preaching at Yale in 1872 in honor of his father. This lectureship on preaching has had more influence on preaching in the English language than any other factor since the Reformation.
Phillips Brooks was an Episcopal minister at Trinity Church, Boston. He made an enduring impact on American preaching. A huge man physically, with a powerful personality, he preached from manuscript at a rapid pace. His messages had such beauty, vigor, and sweeping flow that he held his hearers spellbound. A great thinker, he usually dealt with one major idea, turning it around and around to point out its facets.
Joseph Parker of City Temple, London, was colorful, original, imaginative, oratorical, and popular. His affluence of thought, richness of fancy, range of resources, combined with rare genius made him one of the great preachers of his generation. In his later years he concentrated on expository preaching, publishing Parker’s People’s Bible in several volumes.
Frederick W. Robertson (1816–1853), an Anglican who made his record in six short years at Trinity Chapel, Brighton, England, is an outstanding name in preaching literature. He died at age thirty-seven relatively unknown, but in the years since his printed sermons have had a worldwide circulation, and his popularity seems to be growing. His originality, imagination, spiritual insight, and balance give his sermons a distinctive and lasting power. He emphasized the balanced two-point sermon and preached suggestively rather than exhaustively. His method was expository even when the sermon at first seems to be textual or topical. He had a unique capacity to penetrate to the heart of a Scripture passage, and then to set forth its primary teaching with simplicity, clarity, vividness, and force.
Classical preaching, based upon the principles of the classical Greek and Roman orators, combined with the best in Christian rhetoric is represented by John A. Broadus (1827–1895). He was a profound Christian scholar who preached with simplicity and grace. His book on homiletics, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, has passed through numerous editions and revisions, and has been the most used such textbook in America. In this same tradition stands Austin Phelps (1820–1890) of Andover, a great preacher and teacher of preaching, whose book, The Theory of Preaching, emphasized classical organization and rhetoric. A pastor and preacher who demonstrated the best in this tradition was John Henry Jowett (1863–1923) of England and America, whose attainments in sermonic style, evangelical loyalty, and richness of thought are well-nigh perfect.
Following the evangelistic pattern of Wesley and Whitefield have come other great preachers. Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834–1892) through powerful Pauline evangelistic preaching made his Metropolitan Tabernacle in London a world center of evangelism for more than a generation. D. L. Moody (1837–1899), while not a great preacher, popularized evangelistic preaching. Others have followed in their train.
The Reformation emphasis on expository preaching has also continued down through the years. Alexander McLaren of Manchester (1826–1910) and G. Campbell Morgan (1863–1942) of London achieved highest standards of perfection as expository preachers.
In the twentieth century psychological preaching became popular. Intense studies in psychology and personality produced such rich material for preaching that many men have centered their sermons around its use. Harry Emerson Fosdick (1878–__) believes that a sermon should begin with a life-problem rather than a Scripture passage. George A. Buttrick (1878–__), Ralph W. Stockman (1889–__) of New York, and Leslie Weatherhead (1893–__) of London have carried on this trend.
The neo-orthodox or crisis theology has made quite an impact on preaching. Originating with Karl Barth (1886–__) and Emil Brunner (1889–1966) in Europe, this theology puts great emphasis on preaching the Word. The Word of God is not identified with the written Scriptures, but the Scriptures precipitate the Word in the process of true preaching. The preacher must preach to make the Bible come alive and confront the hearer with Almighty God and his present claims.
The necessity of communication in preaching is a strong one today. Unless the message comes through to the listener, preaching fails. Halford E. Luccock (1896–1961) specialized in this area.
Today sermons must be short—not over fifteen to twenty-five minutes; they must be properly adjusted to their place in the total worship service; they must seek to involve the audience in the preaching situation, and must be Biblically oriented and vitally relevant to the needs of the people.
Preaching is a dynamic experience involving the preacher, the congregation the message, and the setting. It demands the total dedication of physical, spiritual, and intellectual powers plus the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. Then the preacher can speak with authority.
The art of preaching has never been totally static nor can it be. The Word of God does not change but the preaching situation and the needs of people change. Given the constant elements of the Word of God, the man of God, the people of God, and the Spirit of God, preaching will always be exciting. Redeemed men can do nothing nobler than to preach.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blackwood, Andrew W., The Preparation of Sermons. New York: Abingdon-Cokesbury Press, 1948.
Broadus, John A., On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. Rev. ed., Jesse B. Weatherspoon. New York: Harper & Bros., 1944.
Brooks, Phillips, Lectures on Preaching. London: Griffith, Farrar & Co., 1877.
Davis, H. Grady, Design for Preaching. Philadelphia: Muhlenberg Press, 1958.
Jones, Ilion T., Principles and Practice of Preaching. New York: Abingdon Press, 1956.
Pattison, T. Harwood, The Making of the Sermon. Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1898.
Brown, H. C., Clinard, H. Gordon, and Northcutt, Jesse J., Steps to the Sermon. Nashville: Broadman Press, 1963.
Whitesell, F. D. 1967. The Art of Preaching. In R. G. Turnbull (Ed.), Baker’s dictionary of practical theology. (R. G. Turnbull, Ed.) (6). Baker Book House: Grand Rapids, MI
